Small-town values on display during tragedies

6:41 AM,
Apr. 20, 2013

Written by

Rod Dreher

Cheryl Marak's husband, Marty, was down by the burning fertilizer plant in West, Texas, and he wouldn't come home.

"I am begging, begging him to let me come in and get him," Cheryl Marak sobbed to CNN's Piers Morgan the night of the disaster. "He said he can't; he's got to stay with his guys."

Marty Marak is a volunteer firefighter in the town of 2,800 people, emphasis on "volunteer." He installs air conditioners for a living but, like every other member of the squad - some of whom died in the blast - Marty doesn't do it for money. He does it for love of his neighbors. ...